rbytsdy

Found a good potato, kale and sausage soup.

I've had fitting fits with my Newberg, which looks to be almost the same as the Linfield. It's the corner posts-- too much slop in them, and if one doesn't take care from the bottom up, I've learned the hard way , huge gaps emerge at the top! (I filled in 2nd floor gaps with matboard additions... And roof gaps with trim...)

Hmmm... I guess two things come to mind: find a better price elsewhere, or do sort of like I do at the pizza place when I'm buying for a crew-- "do you think you could cut me a break on a bulk order..." You have the email exchange to refer to, also...

Got the house landed on its 3/8"-thick plywood base (1/2" square dowel on the edge); got the lattice parts made (matboard) and the stair (cut the steps to make its width match that between the porch posts): Enjoyed making the parlor window treatments with satin ribbon trim-- had to think about em for a bit, two drapes on each side of the pelmet would've gotten a bit much for those two closely-spaced windows, but then it came to me: a single centered drape with a neck-tie knotted ribbon. Think I'll use that one again some time. One can't see it very well here but the window seat is fake tufted in the same fabric as the chairs. I did some boo-boos when cutting out the fencing-- "Duval" from Heritage Laserworks-- but I am thinking about strategic foliage placements. Now what are these guys doing here-- (This is the "Marshmallow Mouse" Calico Critters family. Aren't they cute?!) You can see that 1/12" is a bit tall and narrow for them; they're more like a fat 1/16". I am getting a new niece this summer, and have gotten this kit for the mouse house: Now this is a really blah kit, but I have in mind to do a real number on it: I did a google search for "victorian style houses exterior" and found a couple views of this house (that is apparently from pinterest; I don't know the origin so apologies if it's your house but WOW!): I may play around a little with the color scheme, but it is really starting to grow on me. For the mouse family, I will need to do some custom-fitting and some custom furniture, like I did for the Calico Critters hedgehog family in the Shadybrook Cabin build.

Had some fun with the kitchen curtains-- pleased with how these turned out: And the bathroom curtains: Using more cardstock forms with the curtains this time around: this cotton fabric is too thick to cooperate much in the way of fancy folds, but it will sit nicely on cardstock.

Congrats on your new baby, Roxy! Trying to decide on house for new niece-- at first I thought the Lily which I have in a box, done up in egg-carton brick, but now I am thinking something more challenging (to make it look like my vision, whatever that is): the Artply Allison. (Or Whitney, or Greenleaf, looks like the same kit.) Can't find very many finished pics of the Allison, and all of those have the kit trim which is what I would replace with some nice Heritage Laserworks and "bespoke" windows/doors. Hmmm. Roofline looks lacking; maybe a well-placed dormer or two?

Well I am not galloping along at any great pace here, but finally got my roof ridge cap from Manchester Woodworks installed (some spackle involved here): that is all that is left of two 22" pieces there at the bottom. (And my MacGyver method of holding the trim in place with pink ribbon. ) These are very time-consuming, with gluing and painting and drying: Kris Compas' small sink and banjo clock: I am working on some window treatments, but cannot for the life of me find my skewer sticks, so will have to make a pleater form out of matboard. Edit: So I made a pleater form out of matboard, and found some 1/8" dowel rod to put into action (scrap piece shown here), and I like how these turned out: And a couple more views of the small sink:

I did some more on the roof with washes, and have spent a while on window trim, including flower-boxes made of matboard. I realized right after I hit the "buy" button on my order to Manchester Woodworks that I should've gotten some brackets for the boxes, but didn't want to pay all that shipping all over again so I cut some out of foamboard-- painting and spackling to finish them. I didn't put any boxes on the right side, or on the bump-out, because the width is just a bit under 24" and I need to keep it that way for ease of shipping. I decided that the ferns and large leaves were too-- much, so I trimmed it back and like this much better: I think that I will apply some white/light paint on the flowers here and there to lighten them up a bit. Yellows-- need more yellows to set off the purple. And some bright green turf.

I've been working on bits and pieces on the house, and on furniture from Kris' tutorials:

Had three domestic things (and a few hours of work things) that I vowed to get done today, and got them all done, so I guess I can go continue to work on my mini domestics : spraypaint mini furniture (OK, that is a mini thing); scrub the tub; bathe the "kids". Despite some furry people's best efforts, we're all much cleaner now. Ed can't stand being sprayed with water-- he loses his furry little mind-- so I tried swabbing him down from a shampoo-ey bucket of warm water instead, which was a bit less traumatic.

Welcome, Charlene! The Lily was the very first house that I built, back in 2006, and boy did I learn alot on that house! (Like, don't paint over surfaces that need to be glued together... ) I have gotten a second Lily kit and intend to try it again after 13 years. I'm thinking egg-carton brick exterior. Looking forward to seeing your build!

Welcome, Laura! The BH is a magnificent house-- it was the first one that I wired for lighting, and I sure did learn alot on that house; started my Greenleaf blog on the BH: http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/?app=blog&module=blogs&controller=view&id=82&page=12 The biggest thing that helped/helps me is, like Holly said, dry-fitting.

Great topic! I have been using 1inchminisbykris tutorials since about 2012. Curiously, I think that my first pieces were some of my best, and that I've been going down-hill since then!

Got the stairs installed, a fair amount of trim (and quite a bit more to go), got the bedroom "carpet" installed, painted the shingles in grey with a wash of purple and silver:

Actually I think this is probably a great time to do shingles and siding, though you will have to make some interesting curved cuts into siding to accommodate those upper corner embellishments. I installed siding before proceeding with the windows and bay roofs, and had to accommodate for the increased thickness.

Almost done with the shingles-- And doing some inside work: trim, patch-up (those interior roof angles are tough! ), wood plank floor for the parlor that still needs a stain:

I have tiny shifts happening between the dry fitting of a part and the gluing of a part! (I guess that means that it wasn't a very good dry fit...)

I know that this isn't a helpful comment by any standard, but-- when I saw your post title, I thought you were going to solicit ideas for a modern build, and I was going to suggest David Suchet's Poirot (1930's) apartment!

Purple flowers may be the trick. (Special request for purple, is why that color choice.) Thank you for your kind comments-- it makes all the mis-fitting worth it! (This kit has been fighting me!)

It has taken me a while to get this far, bits of dowel and wire and beads and matboard: The purples turned out a bit darker than I'd originally envisioned, but I decided to roll with it and see how it turns out. I need to find some way to add purple accent to the windows and door. Purple framing? Purple window boxes? It wants a light touch, not too purpley...

Good luck: the BH is a tough house; it was my third or fourth build, and I learned quite a bit. I was trying to find MoreMinis BH build blog which was very helpful to me, but I think she's moved to Facebook.

...seen a Newberg quite like this! Love how that trim is turning out-- the "Barbados", "CiCi", and "Cumbria" grills and brackets from Heritage Laserworks.